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Monday, February 10, 2014

Guest Post: Living Small in the City

Hey there everyone! My name is Casey and I
blog over at www.wafflingdesign.blogspot.ca
about my life in the big ol’ city of Toronto and living in a tiny 396 square foot
condo! Jenn and I met in line for the Young House Love book signing at West Elm
in Toronto in the fall of 2012 and somehow we have forged an online friendship
despite the differences in our lifestyles (Chickens?? Gardening?? What are
these mysterious things to a downtown condo dweller like me?!). She asked me if
I would be kind enough to guest post today and I jumped at the chance!

That is me on the right with the
houndstooth dress!

I thought today I would share some tips on
small-space living. Now, I want to preface this by saying I am not a
professional designer and basically jumped into ownership of this tiny condo in
Oct 2009 on a whim- and for a long time I had no idea how to store things or
how to fit my life into this tiny space. Living in just under 400 sqft (that is
only 9.5 wide and has only one closet!) sure has taught me a lot about wants vs.
needs and about storage!

So let’s jump in with my TOP 5 SMALL SPACE DESIGN TIPS!

1.
Proportion is Key

When you are moving in a small space, you
need to measure twice and buy once. The person who lived here before me had a
pull out couch for a bed and I thought I would end up in the same sad
situation. However, I carefully measured out the space and realized that a
double bed AND a small couch could fit in! Every time I bring in anything new I
am careful to measure so I know that not only will it fit, but that it also
won’t crowd the room. Having some space around furniture gives the impression
of a larger room.

I don’t think a tiny space needs tiny furniture (as some people
might tell you), but that you should really try and stick to one or two big
pieces and downside the rest. My bed is a double, and takes up a lot of visual
space, so for my couch I chose to get a small loveseat rather than an
“apartment size” couch. The 10 inches of space I saved from that choice make a
big difference in the feel of the room! And it allowed more room for a side
table and a “dining” table on either side.

Another tip related to the shape and size
of your furniture is to try and buy “leggy” items. Seeing the floor throughout
a space helps it seem bigger so I often try to buy things that sit off the
ground!

2. Make Furniture Do Double Duty

Not all your pieces in your home need to
serve 5 different functions (like the furniture that they
make at this company!), but having a few pieces doing double duty can
really help you live more comfortably. For instance, my ottoman also serves as
storage and extra seating when I entertain! My table (Norden
from Ikea) stores my placemats, video games, and camera equipment- plus it
folds out to seat six and I have folding chairs from Costco to go with it so I
can fold everything up if I need more space (there are two more chairs hanging
in my locker). The table on my balcony is also a folding one so I can eat
outside with guests when the weather is nice!

I often look for pieces with storage when I
am shopping for new furniture (drawers are my best friend), but it also isn’t a
hard rule. My couch is simply a couch and my bed has baskets under it rather than
buying a frame with drawers, as I found I need access from the side and the
foot of the bed, which pre-made frames don’t have.

3. Purge

You can have all the storage furniture that
money can buy, but the real key to living small is living with less. I have a rule that nothing comes
into the condo unless it has a place to go and I truly love it- this goes for
everything from furniture to socks! I am a hoarder at heart, but if I have
learned anything in almost 5 years here, it is that a clean, relaxing home is
nicer than a home full of clutter.

You may have noticed that there is no
closet in the bedroom area- I only have a small front hall closet! So I store
all my clothing in two armoires and therefore I have a limited wardrobe.
However, most of the pieces in there are high quality and they all fit me well-
it is much easier and faster to dress when you have 15 outfits that look great
on you, rather than a walk in closet with hundreds of clothes! I am constantly
donating items so that I can buy new things too. :)

I am not a very “neat” person- there are
often loads of laundry on the ottoman, glasses all over the table, dishes in
the sink etc., but I do find that at least trying to be organized amongst my clutter makes a world of difference. I even
try to go through the drawers and ottoman every few months to keep them all
from becoming junk drawers! I must say, I used to constantly lose things, but I
rarely seem to do that anymore. A place for everything and everything in its
place! I love to craft and sew (though I don’t do it nearly enough), so I try
and keep my fabrics bundled for easy access. I also moved all my blu rays and
dvds to a folder so that it takes up less space and I can quickly find a movie.
Plus I store all my camera lenses in a drawer in my desk. There are a million
little pieces of organization like this around here.

Though, I would say the most important
place to organize is the kitchen! Mine is very small, so I have used organizers
all over to fit everything I need in! I also store a lot of dry goods and
alcohol in my fridge since my cupboards aren’t very big, and I keep most of my
baking supplies in big jars on the shelves you see below.

Of course, the best way to store food is to
just not buy very much in the first place. :)

5. Put Your Stamp On It

My last tip is a tip for everyone out there,
living in shoeboxes or mansions! Don’t be afraid to be yourself and incorporate
the colours and styles that you want
in your home. You don’t need to be a designer to know whether or not you like a
bold colour or a piece of furniture. Give it a shot and you may be surprised
how it turns out. Everyone says you shouldn’t paint a small room a dark colour,
but I bucked that idea and painted my tiny bathroom bright teal and I have
never looked back! I love it!

I also took a chance and painted my hallway
a dark navy- in chalkboard paint! Yes, my friends like to come over and write
dirty things on it, but I also like spending time drawing something fun on it.
It is blank right now, because I recently washed off the Santa that I drew on
for Christmas, but I am sure inspiration for a new wall will hit me soon!

So there you are: five tips to help you
decorate a small space with ease and style!

1. Buy furniture that is proportionate to your space
2. Look for pieces that can serve more than one need
3. Purge
4. Organize
5. Have fun with it!

I could probably go on and on with more
tips and tricks, but I figured I would keep it simple for today! Thank you for
listening and I hope some of this came in handy for you today. :)

**************************************************************
I hope you enjoyed the second guest post featured on my blog! I was so excited to ask Casey to write about living in a small space, since I have no experience with this at all, and I think she did an incredible job. Isn't her condo tiny but oh so pretty? I love what she has done with the space she has and the colours and decorations are so fabulous. Not to mention she has some great skills with the camera and capturing good lighting. Be sure to head on over to her blog where you can see more pictures of her place and read about living in a tiny condo.

great post!! My challenge would be my books .... and yarn .... otherwise, not a major issue to downsize at this point in life. It's amazing just how quickly our 'stuff' expands to the size of home we have. kind of like how expenses seem to expand to the size of the pay check so that increases don't seem to make a difference, eh?? ;>)

Bunny - It is so true, our possessions expand to our house size, just like our expenses expand to our incomes. Books are always a problem, I have a lot of them too. And my yarn collection is constantly growing!

@Carolyn I only hold on to books I LOVE and I pass the rest out to friends. I do have a couple of boxes in my locker still, though! As for yarn, I dont have much but there are some skeins in my ottoman :)

About Me

Ever since I was a little girl I wanted to be a homemaker. This blog captures my journey as I live out my dream. I will be sharing my life – from my struggles trying to have a baby to my day-to-day homemaking adventures. I am learning to enjoy every day that I am given and to live life to the fullest.